As a part of its big push to become profitable again, Nissan is prioritizing hybrids. Its e-Power plug-in system, which has been for sale in markets outside of the U.S. for years now, is finally slated to arrive in 2027. In the meantime, though, the company didn’t want its most popular model, the Rogue crossover, to go without a plug-in hybrid powertrain option for a full model year.
So as a stopgap, Nissan revealed the Rogue Plug-In Hybrid back in November. This car doesn’t use the new e-Power drivetrain because it’s not a Nissan at all—it’s a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV that’s had its Mitsubishi badges replaced with Nissan badges. Lazy? Maybe, but it’s also exactly the type of powertrain Nissan needs to bolster its lineup in the United States right now.
Nissan revealed today that the rebadged Outlander will cost $47,485, including a $1,495 destination charge. As it turns out, that’s more than $5,000 more than the actual Outlander PHEV it’s based on. The reason for the huge delta in price? It’s all in the details—specifically, the trim details.
Here’s The Full Breakdown
To start, I think it’s best not to think of the Rogue Plug-In Hybrid as a Rogue, because they really are different cars. The normal Rogue has a totally unique body and interior, and starts at $30,585. The Plug-In is a full $16,900 more expensive, but it also has 38 miles of all-electric range from its 20 kWh battery pack, more horsepower, way more torque, and an extra row of seats in the trunk. The only thing the two Rogues really share is a name and some badges.
Comparing the Rogue Plug-In to the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV makes a lot more sense, since they’re essentially the same cars, both in terms of styling and mechanically. Both use the same 2.4-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder under the hood, the same two electric motors, and have the same battery capacity. The two cars are both rated at 248 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque, connected to the same continuously variable automatic transmission.
For big equipment, the two cars are pretty similar, too. Both get a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a nine-inch infotainment touchscreen, complete with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Yet, the Rogue is priced a full $5,340 more than the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which starts at $42,145 including destination. What gives? Rather than just assume Nissan is trying to scam a few extra thousand dollars from unsuspecting buyers who don’t realize Mitsubishi still sells cars in America, I asked a representative for the company what was up. The price difference comes down to all of the standard stuff you get in the base Rogue Plug-In that doesn’t come standard on the cheapest Outlander PHEV. From the Nissan rep:
The difference in starting MSRP reflects trim and equipment strategy. Nissan positions Rogue Plug‑in Hybrid to start at a higher standard equipment level (SL grade), while Mitsubishi offers Outlander Plug‑in Hybrid across a broader range of trims, including lower-entry variants (ES grade – comparable to a Nissan S base grade). When the vehicles are compared at similar equipment levels(Nissan SL to Mitsubishi SEL), Rogue Plug-in Hybrid and Outlander Plug-in Hybrid are closely aligned in pricing, performance, and overall value.
So basically, the low-range Nissan comes with much of the same equipment as the mid-range Mitsubishi. It’s mostly small stuff that you probably wouldn’t even think about unless you’re driving the car, like a power-adjustable driver’s seat, heated front seats, keyless entry, a leather steering wheel, a wireless phone charger, three-zone climate control, and LED fog lights. The base Nissan, the SL, has all of that stuff, while the base Mitsubishi has none of it. That explains the $5,000 difference.
You Can Spend Even More If You Want
In addition to the SL trim, Nissan is offering a “Premium” trim for the Rogue Plug-In Hybrid, too. With destination included, it starts at an eye-watering $51,485. For the extra four grand, you get a 10-inch head-up display installed into the dash, along with a Bose nine-speaker audio system, leather trim, heated rear seats, and a power panoramic sunroof.
Dropping over fifty grand for what amounts to a rebadge Mitsubishi feels like something that should never happen, but that’s just how expensive cars are these days. According to Cox Automotive, the average transaction price for a new car last month was $49,191 (which is actually lower than last month, but still insane). So to see a plug-in hybrid Nissan hover around that price shouldn’t actually be all that surprising.
I’m not one to complain about the lack of a few niceties, so if it were my money, I’d buy the cheapest version of the Mitsubishi I could find. Oh, who am I kidding? If it were really my money, I’d buy 10 different rusty Miatas off of Facebook Marketplace to see if I can part them out to create one good Miata.
Top images: Nissan; Mitsubishi
Taking a page from the Stellantis pricing playbook.
IT HAS THE SAME ENGINE AS MY SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD LANCER!
This has been 4B12 Facts with Stef. Have a nice day!
The Mitsu is one UGLY turd. The Nissan is ugly too but actually looks better than the Outlander because the front end has less tacky chrome.
Both ugly! Current automotive design makes me want to _____! When Mitsubishi packs up can you get their version worked on at a Nissan dealer? Probably not. Buy a good used low mileage Highlander. Ours had 170k on it. Quiet as a church. 24 mpg on highway. And it’s Awd Limited. I’m gonna buy a 2nd one for me!!
The Nissan costs more because Mitsubishi snuck in that Nissan would pay the tariffs for every Outlander sold in the United States. (So, three.)
The Outlander was built on the same platform as the ICE only Rogue anyway so it’s still a Rogue but in a Mitsubishi bodysuit
This is what I was coming to say. Isn’t the Outlander just a re-badged Nissan Rogue anyways? That kind of makes this more of a parts bin special. I can’t speak to the pricing/feature-set, but this was already basically a Nissan, perhaps the powertrain is unique.
It’s not a rebadge, and I wish y’all would quit using that term incorrectly. They are built on the same platform, use some of the same kits of parts, and probably have the same front structure. However, the Mitsubishi has its own design, both interior and exterior. And the non-PHEV Outlander uses Mitsubishi’s own 1.5T I4, which is probably a safer bet than the controversial Nissan 1.5T “VC-Turbo” I3. The PHEV Outlander uses a Mitsubishi engine as well.
However the Rogue PHEV pretty much is a rebadged Outlander PHEV, and will use all the same hardware…including the Mitsubishi powertrain.
Whatever it is called, we have a 2021 Rogue Platinum and, while clearly different, I see a lot of similarities both inside and out so it feels like a Nissan in a Mitsubishi suit. Kind of like a Chevrolet Camaro in a Cadillac suit.
The base versions are siblings on the shared architecture with different body shells and power trains vs the PHEV is a set of identical twins copied off the Outlander as a stop gap for Nissan until ePower was ready. The identical versions are a rebadge as the trim is the only distinguishing features, the base versions are different but not fully.
I agree the Mitsu is derivative, not a rebadge. But the drivetrain can’t be the reason since for the first MY, 2021, the Rogue/Outlander shared the same 2.5 Nissan engine and transmission. And Mitsu continued with it until MY2025 while Nissan went to the VC-T in 2022 I think.
Allegedly, Mitsu did its own tuning, whatever that means. The wheelbase is identical so it’s primarily a bodywork/interior change.
Go drive a new Outlander and then go drive a new Rogue. They feel like two completely different vehicles. The Outlander handles better, in at least the gas-only model and imho looks better. And no 3-cyl engine, either.
“When the vehicles are compared at similar equipment levels(Nissan SL to Mitsubishi SEL), Rogue Plug-in Hybrid and Outlander Plug-in Hybrid are closely aligned in pricing, performance, and overall value.”
This is the point where I stopped reading the post, re-read the headline, and realized the headline had succeeded in baiting me to click again. It’s getting old. I like your content in general but I do dislike this stuff. Your content doesn’t need this, or does nobody click on anything otherwise?
The title should be: “Here’s Why Nissan’s Rebadged Outlander PHEV Is the Same Price As a Comparable Trim Level of the Actual Outlander PHEV.”
And then the article body should be: “Because it’s the same car.”
This guy is bringing the site down. I hope he works for cheap.
The worst part is that we know from their leaked* Slack conversations that they obsess over article titles, yet stuff like this gets through? This is the second time in a week that they’ve had a blatantly clickbaity article title that was contradicted by the article text.
*: Leaked by them for our entertainment, to be fair
They couldn’t even do a bad body kit?
My guess is they think the time required to design and validate new bodywork isn’t time they can afford to not have the product.
Yeah that isn’t $5k as I wouldn’t want any of that. You can’t rebadge the competition ask for $5k more and add needless options.
It isn’t 5k more than the equivalent version of the Mitsubishi, but the Mitsubishi is available in a cheaper base trim without those features if you don’t want them.
Good to know missed that in the reading of the article. Although I don’t feel that it is a fair comparison if it’s apples to oranges
Nice price or CR–K P–E??? I would definitely go with the latter. This needs buckets of cash stashed somewhere to move units. I know what the average sale price is these days, but that’s just ridiculous!
I’ve almost bought the current outlander two times once when it originally came out and they had been sitting around for a bit and then after the phev were sitting around for a bit. But the dealers are such low lives you can’t make a deal and they always are trying to run your credit even if you say its a cash deal or before have a price. The Nissan dealer I dealt with for my incentive stripped delivery mile “used” leaf was excellent for the leaf but that doesnt translate in to $5k more with less warranty and stupid looking front end.
This is an issue for both the Mitsubishi dealerships and Nissan dealerships. They have spent so many years focused on the low credit buyer that they can’t help but act shady even when they have no reason to. The Outlander PHEV is an actual decent vehicle, just like the Nissan Z, but the dealers can’t help but treat potential buyers like crap and make the product undesirable. I’m just glad Kia is finally moving out of that mode, because their dealers were absolutely unbearable until just a few years ago.
True, it really seems to depend on the dealer. I knew a good Kia dealer that has gone to hell. And some Nissan dealers that have improved. Same thing with Hyundai. But I only know of one Mitsubishi dealer in the whole country that’s not the biggest low lives your have ever dealt with
Nope, I buy salvage cars for a living and NOTHING has changed at most H/K dealerships… they are still crap.
We are lucky to have a decent dealership here in East Tennessee for our three Mitsubishi’s and having a choice of dealerships is the only real reason to buy the Nissan over the Mitsu… more dealership choices out there.
But the simple fact is that you will most likely NEVER see the inside of their individual service departments as our three Mitsubishi’s have had zero issues and have only had scheduled maintenance performed.
I’ve always had good experience with the actual vehicles they seem to have even improved its the dealerships are shockingly bad and now few and far between. Nissan quality on alot of models is very questionable still but I think some of the larger volume leaf dealers have figured out it’s a different demo and you can’t treat everyone like an Altima buyer. I went to get a mirage several years ago for a relative and it was an ok but a strange experience. It could be model has something to do with it.
> 38 miles of all-electric range from its 20 kWh battery pack
ONE POINT NINE MILES PER KWH!
How is it that bad? That’s Hummer EV territory!
Firstly, that’s a reasonably competitive figure with other PHEV crossovers. To wit:
Second, PHEVs typically have a much larger buffer than BEVs in terms of usable battery capacity (gross) versus usable battery capacity (net). PHEV batteries sometimes dip as low as 60% net capacity, and may go as high as 80%. BEVs are more in the 85-95% range. On top of that, BEVs try to be more efficient with a battery, in the first place, because range anxiety is a thing.
For actual miles-per-kWh, you need to look at actual kWh consumed versus miles traveled, not just the total capacity of the pack versus miles traveled.
PHEV reserves a lot of battery capacity so it can still function as a normal hybrid once the ‘ev miles’ range depletes. the EV economy is likely close to 3 miles per KWH leaving 8ish KWH battery available for hybrid duties. typical hybrid batteries operate in the 80 percent charge to 40-50 percent charge duty cycle. PHEV cars are not in Binary only EV car then only a gas car. you can even turn the “ev only” mode off in most cases and just operate as a hybrid with a huge ass battery and get like 100+mpg thats probably the most efficient mode to drive if you know you are going to drive further than the ev only range you can always switch to EV only if you have battery left once you get close to home on your return trip.
Seems like a lot for a “Nissan” or Mitsubishi. I think I’ll pass.
cheapest bmw PHEV “starts” at 77 thousand dollars Lexus NX PHEV is 60 thousand dollars but its also a bit smaller Mercedes-Benz GLC 350e 4MATIC plug-in hybrid starts at 60k and it is a little smaller and you don’t get as much standard equipment on the base trim. the kia Sorento PHEV is like the exact same price as the rogue.
i guess you could argue to just skip the hybrids and stick to the gas rogue and save the $16,000. but you also have to consider depreciation and total running cost.
Man, what a terrible waste of money.
I’m sure Nissan will find a way to sell them to real estate agents with poor credit…
I’m sorry, but while I realize that 11 years is a long time and there has been a lot of inflationary water under the bridge, I am NOT paying the same price for a loaded one of these things as MSRP on the reasonably well-equipped ’16 326hp BMW M235i (premium pkg, nav, stereo upgrade, some other stuff, but no driver assist nonsense) that I bought in 2015. For a generic hybrid CUV-thing from a *decidedly* not in any way premium brand.
No, just no to all of it. We so live in the worst timeline.
BTW, this weeks rental is a Hybrid Kia Sportage. It is unoffensively underwhelming. 40+mpg so far, but all the driving enjoyment of sitting at home on the couch. I can’t imagine these things are any different.
While I agree that cars are too expensive these days, comparing this with a German compact sports car 10 years ago as apples-to-apples is, well, bananas
Generic as fuck boring non-premium CUVs should not cost this much is the bottom line. The 2-series is just not that much more expensive today than it was back then. An M240i is only a few grand more comparably equipped.
This is a ludicrous price premium to save a little gas.
A transverse-FWD PHEV crossover and an M240i (the modern equivalent of your car) seems like a silly comparison, especially because a lot of the folks that would be in the market for an Outlander PHEV or Rogue PHEV can’t afford to have their one car be a subcompact German coupe. Seriously, the intersection between these two cars is a pair of circles. I don’t know why you would ever compare them, as though there are really more than about three people on Earth who would genuinely consider buying one versus the other.
Seriously, we might as well just compare the $50K purchase price for a Rogue PHEV to that of a C7 Grand Sport 7MT, or a well-cared-for 1996 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur IV, or a brand-new Ducati Panigale V4 R, or anything else in the “fat chance” category.
Never mind that the Outlander PHEV and Rogue PHEV probably will get discounts that will make the real-world transaction price smaller…I think it’s understandable that CUVs are getting more expensive. After all, people are buying them. What industry wouldn’t raise prices on a hot segment, especially in a market as fraught and thin-margined as cars?
As a corollary, I think the M240i is actually undervalued at this time. I think that, in ten years, after it’s been rationalized out of BMW’s North American lineup, we’ll sit back and marvel that you could get such an engaging, performant car for well under $60K. Not that it sounds like you’re in the market for one (since, you know, yours is so fantastic and all), but for the sake of the modern new-car-buying enthusiast, you should probably be glad that it doesn’t cost a lot more than it does in the modern economic climate. Its price doesn’t even appear to have kept up with inflation.
As far as your vitriol against modern crossovers that get stellar fuel economy or anything with driving aids, again, it’s silly. Understand that most people are not car enthusiasts, and that they are looking for a car which gives them the practicality, features, styling and luxury they want. Whether that makes you a superior, more-evolved being because you drive one of Bavaria’s finest—and bought it 10 years ago, in an entirely different, pre-inflation landscape—is entirely up to interpretation.
I think that if you wanted to bring up some of the things that actually are troublesome about newer cars, like decreased repairability, dubious data privacy and poor outward visibility, those would have some merit. But being mad at a car (and here I refer to both your feedback on the Outlander/Rogue PHEV and what you said about the Sportage Hybrid) that does its job just fine or even exceptionally for the overwhelming majority of people who would buy it and that is priced reasonably in line with the market in which it exists is, I think, an “old man yells at cloud” kind of situation.
These are simply not the sorts of cars for you, and that is okay. Likewise, sometimes, when we represent a minority interest group/buying segment, our available choices shrink because there aren’t enough of us to justify catering to said group. It happens.
[Edited for grammar]
inject this comment into my veins lmao
Completely missing my point, but that is just fine.
What exactly is your point?
That someone could buy a subcompact 2+2 premium coupe instead of a 5+2 compact-plus PHEV crossover for nearly the same money, and that therefore it’s reasonable to compare the two?
Please, explain it to me.
That a mere 10 years ago, a boring little non-premium family runabout from a 3rd tier automaker like this was literally HALF the price of a German sports coupe. And today people are somehow justifying them being basically the same price. That extra 25-large to save a little gas by making the thing PHEV is completely and utterly stupid.
THAT is my point.
And its a bad take.
First of all, I don’t know where you get the $25,000 delta, in the first place. Clearly you didn’t read the article. Even the author says the delta between the cheapest Rogue S (non-PHEV) and the cheapest Rogue PHEV is more like $17,000. And even that is a misleading figure because the lowest Rogue PHEV comes with a lot more equipment (leather seats, pano sunroof, tri-zone climate control, digital instrument cluster) than the base Rogue S. On top of, you know, a whole different body shape, the vestigial third row, and the PHEV powertrain, all of which are of some value. The real-world delta between a Rogue and a Rogue PHEV, equipped similarly, is more like $9K, and that’s a pretty standard spread for a lot of automakers in this space.
Second, MSRPs are not transaction prices. While the prospective buyer of an M240i (or even a RAV4 PHEV) is unlikely to see much of a discount, the buyer of an Outlander PHEV or Rogue PHEV surely will. Right now, Mitsubishi has what looks like a $4,500 national rebate for a mid-range Outlander PHEV, bringing the price for one of those down from $48,895 to $44,395 (before destination charges). And that’s before you negotiate a discount, or (if you’re in a state like Colorado) take another $5,000 off the top.
Third, PHEV powertrains typically have quite a bit more power and smoothness than base gasoline powertrains for their respective models, and are considered premium experiences. Not unlike how people used to pay extra for the Camry or Accord with the V6 and not the I4. So your claim that Nissan and Mitsubishi are charging all that money “to save a little gas” is disingenuous and ignorant.
Fourth, as I said, the M240i probably ought to cost more than it does. Its price has not kept up with inflation even in the last five years, let alone the last eleven. If we accept that your M235i was $50K new, a comparable M240i ought to be around $68,000. Instead, you can get it for $57,500. And that same $68,000 pretty much gets you into an M2. So are Nissan and Mitsubishi over-charging, or is BMW under-charging?
Maybe both. Maybe neither. Because people see value in crossovers, especially hybrid ones. If you’re a buyer whose life does not revolve around car culture or driving enjoyment, it’s probably the most practical kind of vehicle you can buy. That’s why crossovers continue to get more and more expensive, while sports cars have less price growth or are being dropped altogether at the lower end. People aren’t seeing as much value in a small car that might be fun to drive, but that doesn’t do the things they want and need in a car.
You are entitled to your opinion, as I am entitled to mine. <shrug>
Arguing the value of a vehicle today by comparing to the price of another from 10 years ago is just silly. At the very least you have to account for inflation.
If you want to argue that the price of this PHEV doesn’t make sense (and it probably doesn’t), the only valid comparison is to other alternatives available on the market today.
The price of a 2-series has barely increased in the past decade. Nothing like the inflation of these blob-mobiles.
Excuse me, but you’re saying that this costs about the same MSRP as a 1980 Ferrari 308 with only marginally more horsepower a mere 45 years ago? Where’s the cornering prowess? The style? The provenance? This Nissan is horrible. Get a 45 year old ferrari for your family DD needs instead.
/s
I know you’re being humorous, but some people (especially on this site) just love to make those sorts of useless comparisons for real. You can get a <new thing> for the same money as <old thing>! or the reverse. Neither make sense.
Yep, especially when you consider the source of the dollars involved. Someone buying a classic Ferrari is wiring the full funds to the seller–either from a bank account or off of an open line of credit against an asset/portfolio–and is probably spending quite a bit of money on top of that just to vet the thing pre-purchase, or to bring it up to standards post-purchase.
Someone buying a Rogue or Outlander PHEV–or any other new crossover in that arena–is probably utilizing a commoditized auto loan program of one kind or another.
Those two things have very different accessibility. To say nothing of the costs of owning one versus the other, or which one someone would need to depend upon as daily transportation.
I once read an article which—very saliently I think—pointed out that even dailying a reputable older 90s car, like an LS 400 or an NA Miata, is a privilege some of the time. Cars break. Most people do not have the time or money to put into something that iffy, and need to spend their efforts on a much newer car that is likelier to start every time and that has a predictable maintenance/repair schedule.
someone pointed out that owning an older ‘super car’ is more of a flex than owning a new one because a new one can be financed. to buy an older one you actually have to have money both to buy it and keep it running. lots of people can get credit, not as many have cash.
1980 was a LOT longer ago than when I bought my BMW. Though of course, the price of a new Ferrari is even more impressively insane today than it was in 1980. A 308 was attainable by an upper middle-manager back then – not THAT much more expensive than a 911. Today you need to be well into the C-suite to even begin to contemplate buying one. If they will deign to sell you one in the first place.
the person who is buying a sorento doesn’t give a crap about “driving enjoyment”. Also 50k in 2015 was sicko mode money for a car. Remember when the Nissan GTR r35 cost $60,000 new in 2007? you can’t even buy a quarter ton pickup truck for that price now.
People are out of their damned minds at this point. That these things, and especially pickups, sell like hotcakes, proves that. There is no “affordability” issue – because obviously actual new car buyers don’t give the first shit what they cost, they just pay it. And in fact, you can buy an XC60 for what a loaded one of these costs, albeit only mild hybrid.
I could see $50K+ for something like this from a lower-tier premium brand – Volvo for example. For a rebadged as a Nissan *Mitsubishi*. Get outta here.
yeah it is people in their 60s buying new cars. their house is paid off or their mortgage is maybe $800 a month. they have tons of extra cash to spend and no other bills.
Beyond that, it is very, very, very much that “K” shaped economy thing. While lots of people don’t have two nickels to rub together, lots of people make lots of money too.
there are millions of millionaires.
To be fair, mostly due to home equity and 401k appreciation. I have been one for some time now.
On top of being more expensive the Nissan also has a worse warranty. Usually I’m on the side of the consumer but if you can’t be bothered to do basic research and figure that out there’s just no hope for you….
But can I take it to a Mitsubishi dealer and a Nissan dealer for service?
You actually can in certain cases but it requires approval from both manufacturers zone office management.
Really, you’re paying the premium for that Nissan badge. The price of prestige, baby.
Only one of these will give you a place in the exclusive Big Altima Energy club!
Priceless, that.
I feel like EVERY Nissan should just be sold as a crappy used car.
Might kick a couple dents in them on the assembly line then send them right to buy here pay here lots
Perfect! You could be Nissan’s next CEO with that thinking!
why would anyone buy this instead of a Rav4 plugin?
Two reasons I considered it briefly: the first is the 3rd row. I don’t need it for people much, but my lab prefers laying in a seat and I prefer having her buckled in with a Kurgo harness.
The second is the price on lightly used ones – these things (well, the Mitsu version) can be had in the mid-20s with reasonable mileage while the RAV4 primes are all over 30. But in the end, the dismal hybrid gas mileage and the suspect reliability on the PHEV system means I’m left wishing Toyota had a slightly larger PHEV available.
Plus a lot of folks like to drive vehicles that not every single other person on the road drives.
Availability. I don’t think plug-in RAVs even touch the lot before they’re sold, whereas my closest Mitsu dealer has a dozen PHEV Outlanders on the ground and 5 of them with an MSRP over the Rogue PHEV’s MSRP. I imagine the Nissan will follow the Mitsu with heavier discounts compared to the Toyota.
Because Toyota isn’t making enough of them. Whether that’s by design or due to logistical challenges, Toyota hasn’t been producing enough of its SUVs, especially hybrid ones, to sate demand. It means buyers of those vehicles can expect long waits and/or markups to get them. (I was lucky to get a ’26 Land Cruiser for under MSRP late last year). And even as the PHEV powertrain expands to more trims with the ’26 redesign, that’s likely to continue being the case.
Meanwhile, the Rogue and Outlander PHEV will likely be plentiful enough to incur reasonable discounts.
It’s artificial scarcity. When combined with Toyota’s absurd allocation system it’s a money printing machine for dealerships. Toyota is happy, their dealerships are happy, line go UP, and the consumer can get absolutely fucked.
it’s not artificial scarcity. They just only have so many factories that can make the Primes, and they went head first into 1:6:90. They assumed they’d sell > 10X as many hybrids as PHEVs, and totally underestimated the demand for them
Must have been the same guy who determined Ford would sell 2/3 Mavericks with the bigger gas engine and only 1/3 would be Hybrids.
Speaking of which, why isn’t there a Bronco Sport Hybrid? There’s obvious demand for hybrid SUVs, there are hybrid versions of both the recently discontinued Escape and the Maverick (with and without AWD), and it could potentially take a bite out of RAV4 and CR-V sales.
Seems like a no-brainer, to me. Ford is normally fantastic at anticipating the sorts of cars people want to buy and even at creating whole segments, but that one has me scratching my head.
Ford can’t decide if they want to actually make and sell any hybrids period. It was available in the Escape in HEV and PHEV guise and in the Maverick, but they didn’t want to build them to meet demand. So it makes sense to me that they are busy burning the company and customer good will to the ground already instead of improving the products and directly competing with the Asian OEMs and anyone else. Their CEO seems scared of competition and kills best selling products because they need investment to stay competitive and improve quality
The turbocharged engine is smaller at 2.0L of displacement vs the 2.5L HEV, more powerful at 250 HP vs 191 sure, but not larger in the Maverick
Right. Dealers cannot order cars and must wait for allocations of specific models and units. They can sometimes request things, but there’s no guarantee they’ll get them.
Toyota seems especially constrained on the segments it has mostly or entirely to itself.
Oh, and if you live in one of the regions where Toyota still has a distributor as an intermediary between it and the dealerships…that’s another opportunity to be fleeced, because the distributors pack the cars with additional content, which gets added to the build sheet and window sticker and which therefore cannot be removed.
I’m in Oklahoma, so we’re beholden to Gulf States Toyota. GST put over $3K worth of extras on my Land Cruiser, including A/T tires (but not the spare), a vehicle protection package, and illuminated door sills.
Appropos of nothing, the next most annoying element after the purchase experience is the cult-like ownership base for the Toyota trucks. These folks as bad as Tesla stans. The Land Cruiser and the other Toyota trucks all have some real shortcomings (some of which I’ve managed to rectify, like not having acoustic glass on the front doors), but if you bring them up, people admonish you and tell you you’re a crybaby and to go back to whatever you’d been driving before.
Because you can actually get one? And I imagine in the real world MSRP on these is rather a fantasy, unlike anything Toyota with a battery pack.
The Toyota Tax is real.
It’s worse than the Porsche Tax in many ways. At least if you pay the Porsche Tax, you end up with a Porsche, not yet another boring transportation module.
The outlander is not a bad SUV. Unfortunately the reputation in the US for Mitsu is poor (and their market approach appeals to low credit etc). Sure it’s boring but no more or less than a highlander or rav4. The interior design is decent IMHO, and having had a couple as rentals, they’re quite comfortable too. The PHEV powertrain is well proven and popular outside of the US. The 4B engine has been around forever and used in all sorts of vehicles too. I wouldn’t shy away from the Outlander but as an enthusiast I’d have a hard time justifying it too. As an appliance, you could do a lot worse.
This is what astounds me about peoples preferences for the worlds most mundane vehicles. They all drive about the same. They are all VASTLY more reliable than vehicles of the past, but some cost $10K-$15K more and for what? A Toyota badge? Marketing is a hell of drug.
15 years ago I bought a 2002 Mitsubishi Galant. It was the same boring ass car to drive as a twice as expensive used Camry would have been. It was just as reliable. 20K-120k miles with nothing but mandatory/preventative maintenance. Same as a Toyota or Honda.
For about 10 years, my wife drove an eclipse 2.4 of the same era and all that went wrong over 120k of mileage was a stuck thermostat, and the exhaust pipe had a hole rusted in it (NE winters will do that). Otherwise all routine, probably the most reliable car I’ve owned and very easy to work on. Mitsu could be a very serious contender in the states if their dealer network was better, and didn’t specifically target low credit markets.
I test drove and seriously considered a 23 Outlander PHEV a couple of months ago. 12k miles and they wanted $28k. Basically $15k off new MSRP and it had less than a year’s worth of mileage. It drove fantastically, had plenty of room for me, my wife, kids, and dog, and we have a Mitsu dealer just 40 minutes from me.
Alas, I decided to be financially responsible and keep my paid-off 2016 sedan. But the Outlander was great.
Co-worker wanted to buy a Rav4 plugin. 17 month wait list.
Just….buy a full EV at that price.
or an EV and a beater Civic for that price…
But I can’t buy an EV! What if I have to tow 12,000 pounds 700 miles in subzero temperatures?!?!
Ok but will the Rogue Plug-in Hybrid help us get a new Evo?
Only if Nissan gets to brand it as a Sentra SE-R.
I accept your terms.
Yes, but it will be a plug-in hybrid CUV.